Damak, October 3:

The teachers of government schools in Jhapa have not yet received their Dashain allowances, even after the Dashain holidays have started. The delay in disbursement of Dashain allowances was due to the negligence of District Education Office (DEO), the disgruntled teachers said, adding that they had not been able to do shopping for the festival because of the delay.

Dhron Shrestha, a teacher at Himalaya Higher Secondary School in Damak, said, “We were informed that the salaries were disbursed on Sunday, but our cheques are still languishing in the bank because of the holidays.” They would still have to wait for two more days, Shrestha said, as the next two days were public holidays.

The teachers and other staff at Mahendra Ratna Secondary School in Anarmani were also unsure when they would get their salaries. Devendra Gautam, the principal of the school, said, “Though we have completed all necessary steps, yet we don’t know when the salaries will be disbursed.” Another teacher, Rudra Niraula of Saraswoti Secondary School, Damak, blamed the negligence of the principals for the problem. Niraula said, “The principals didn’t send the disbursement forms to the DEO on time.”

He said that over 3000 teachers in Jhapa were still to get their salaries as of Monday. Most teachers believe the delay may have been caused as the DEO had asked for additional documents along with the disbursement forms. The schools may have been unable to submit the documents to DEO on time, the teachers suspect. Some teachers also suspect a deliberate delay on the part of DEO after it was asked to take back the management of the schools that had been handed over to local communities.

District Education Officer of Jhapa Babu Ram Poudel however said that the delay was due to the late submission of salary disbursement forms by the schools.